Mark Swinton is an outstanding organist and keyboard accompanist, currently based in the Kendal, Cumbria. He is a Fellow of the Royal College of Organists and a member of the Incorporated Society of Musicians.

Since September 2008, he has been Organist and Director of Music at the Parish Church of the Holy Trinity, Kendal where he presides over the Choir of Boys and Men, voluntary Congregational Choir and two organs - an 1877 Willis/Walker and an 1880 Bevington. Mark also directs the Kendal South Choir in their programme of concerts centred on Kendal Parish Church.

Over the next several years, he aims to develop the music making at the Church, beyond the current round of weekly services. Plans for the future include extending the range of activities for both Choirs, through concerts, recordings, broadcasts and tours, as well as collaborations with other choirs and ensembles in Cumbria and Lancashire. Mark also intends to raise the profile of the organs through recital series, recordings and educational events.

Formative years

Mark received his education at the King's School, Chester, where the inspirational Director of Music, Dr. Barry Ball, encouraged him in musical activity of all kinds. As a piano pupil of John Gough, he won a number of Prizes at the Bromborough Festival, whilst organ studies with Roger Fisher at Chester Cathedral led to his appointment as Organist and Choirmaster at St Mary without-the-Walls, Handbridge, in 1997. (He remains the youngest person to have held this position in the church's 120-year history.) Two years later, he gave his first solo public recital at Chester Cathedral as part of their weekly Thursday Lunchtime recital series.

University education and development

Upon leaving school, he entered the University of York, working for the BA and MA degrees in Music and continuing organ studies with Dr Roger Tebbet, John Scott Whiteley and Dr Francis Jackson. The University's emphasis on developing high performing standards, in combination with scholarly excellence, afforded Mark with numerous opportunities to appear in public as a soloist and an ensemble player. His various performances on the Grant, Degens and Bradbeer Organ in the University's Sir Jack Lyons Concert Hall, together with a Spring Lunchtime Recital at York Minster in 2002, helped to establish him as a recitalist of virtuoso calibre. His accompaniment of the University Choir in a concert of Bruckner and Dvorak was critically acclaimed, and he also played organ parts for the University Symphony Orchestra in repertoire ranging from Britten's War Requiem to Satie's Parade. As a pianist, he frequently accompanied his fellow students in instrumental and song recitals, as well as in Masterclasses by distinguished visiting artists including Andrew Manze, Lynne Dawson and Thomas Thomaschke. As a continuo player, he played with the University Baroque Ensemble in performances of Bach's Johannes Passion, Handel's Israel in Egypt and concertos by Vivaldi and Telemann; he also made special guest appearances in both the European Union Chamber Orchestra and the Yorkshire Youth Orchestra.

During his last year at York, he served as Organ Scholar at Selby Abbey, playing for Sunday services and accompanying the Choristers on tour in France, where they visited St Eustache (Paris) and the Cathedral of St Etienne (Meaux).

Bristol and Bath

In 2003, he was appointed Organist at Clifton College, Bristol, where he played for daily Chapel services, undertook tutorial duties in a boarding house and inaugurated a series of recitals featuring some of Britain's finest organists. He accompanied the Chapel Choir in the Cathedrals of Lichfield and Salisbury, St George's Brandon Hill (Bristol) and on tour in Spain, including concerts in Barcelona Cathedral and the Parish Church of El Vendrell. His own recitals on the College's splendid 1911 Harrison organ included the first performance of a work written for him by York-based composer Bryan Boulter as well as complete performances of Messiaen's La Nativité du Seigneur and L'Ascension. Recital appearances elsewhere in Bristol included the Cathedral, St Mary Redcliffe Church, the two main city centre churches (Christ Church and St Stephen's); appearances further afield included Liverpool, Croydon and Oxford.

Within his time at Clifton, Mark also served twice as an Official Accompanist in the Bristol Festival of Music, Speech and Drama.

From 2005-2008, Mark was Assistant Organist of Bath Abbey, where he played regularly for congregational services and shared in accompanying the acclaimed Abbey Choirs under the direction of Dr Peter King. He appeared several times in the Abbey's recital series, accompanied the Boys and Men of the Choir on tour in the Netherlands (including a concert in the Sint Laurens Grote Kerk, Alkmaar) and the Girls of the Choir in Aix-en-Provence. His CD of the Abbey organ, Colours of the Klais, was released in 2007 as one of a number of projects marking the tenth anniversary of the organ's installation by Orgelbau Klais of Bonn. Mark also played for broadcasts on BBC Radio Bristol and gave a Charity Concert in aid of the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at the Royal United Hospital, raising over £1000 for their "Space-to-Grow" Campaign.

In addition to his position at the Abbey, Mark served as Accompanist to the Chantry Singers, a noted local chamber choir directed by Elizabeth Bates, and at the Royal High School GDST, whose Choir he accompanied on tour in Paris.